Foix

Foix, Counts of, were members of an old family of the south of France. The first was Roger, born in 1064. Another, Raymond, took part in a crusade, and was with Philippe Auguste at the siege of Acre. His estates were afterwards forfeited for his siding with the Albigenses, and he died in 1223. Gaston III., called Phosbus on account of his manly beauty, was made governor of Languedoc and Gascony for his services to the king. Gaston IV. did good service for Charles VII. against the English. His grandson became Duc de Nemours (1505), and earned the epithet of "Thunderbolt of Italy." He beat the Swiss, chased the Papal troops, and seized Brescia from the Venetians, and won the battle of Ravenna against the Spaniards in 1512, paying for the victory with his life at the age of 23. The title then passed to the King of Navarre, and so eventually to the French Crown. Froissart tells us of the tragic accidental death of one of the family at the hands of his father.